Sinners
by GrittyRe-boot
Summary: "Rachel," Finn finally said after a seemingly endless silence. "If I asked you to run away with me tonight, what would you say?" Finchel and other pairings. Contains spoilers.
1. Burned Twice

**I realize that Ryan Murphy and Co. have turned me into a bit of angstaholic lately, but the last couple of episodes plus the promo for the next one have put me in a better mood, so I think I'm ready to tackle my first humor-oriented story since Rock and Roll Hall of Shame. This will be more romantic than that one, and a bit more Finchel centered, although it's still largely an ensemble. Enjoy!**

Rachel's Story

Rachel nervously clutched her phone in her clammy hand, trying to force the urge to call him away. She knew she should want him to get the part. It was his dream after all, but she also knew that getting it would mean moving ten hours away. She wasn't sure if she could handle a long distance relationship, especially since her and Jesse had just managed to work things out. All she wanted was to be one half of a normal couple for once.

She wasn't perfect, far from it, but she knew that she deserved to be happy, yet something always seemed to get in the way of that. This time it was Jesse's career, less than a month after their reconciliation Jesse sprung the news on her. He landed an audition for the role of Link in the Broadway production of Hairspray, a role she knew right away that he would be perfect for. She wanted him to get it, she really did, or at least that's what she told herself, even if in the back of her mind she knew that him getting that part would just be the end all over again. She tried to shake the negative thoughts away. Even if he did get the part it didn't mean they were breaking up, it just meant that they would be separated for a while. She had planned to make the move to New York in a little over a year anyway, once she graduated from McKinley, so why couldn't they make it work? She smiled at her own reassurance and took a deep breath, the last thing she wanted to do was sound like a total spaz when he finally showed up at the Waffle house.

Finally She saw her handsome, curly haired, leather jacketed paramour. As she scrambled up to greet him she nearly tripped over her own feet. So much for not spazzing, she thought to herself as she hugged him tightly around the neck.

"Jesse," she said brightly.

"Hello Lovely," he said "It's so great to see you, a week is far too long,"

"How was your flight?" she said, hoping to get past the first question to the big question.

"Mercifully brief."

"So, is it good news or bad news," She said, trying not to sound too tense.

"Let's sit," he said cryptically.

"So…" Rachel said as they sat across from each other. "Good news or bad news?" she repeated.

He played with the rim of his coffee mug, a sly smile reaching his lips, "Fanstastic news," He finally said.

"You got the part?" Rachel said, less excitedly than she had meant to.

"Oh you should have been there. I was fantastic, I was beyond fantastic I _was_ Link Larkin," he said.

"Of course you were," she said. "That's great Jesse, I'm so proud of you."

"I'm proud of me too, but you must know how much I'm going to miss you," he said as sincerely as he could manage. "I know how difficult it was for you to take me back, and now I'm leaving to start rehearsal in less than a week, it must be hard."

Rachel shrugged and forced a smile, "It is, but you know, it's okay."

"Oh, don't be sad my love," he said dramatically as he reached for her hand. "Don't think of this as the end, think of it as a new beginning."

"Of course, this is your dream Jesse, how could I be sad about that. I'm just going to miss you."

"And I'm going to miss you as well."

But you know, we'll still see each other right?" She said. "Long distance relationships are hard but they're not impossible."

"Rachel…"

"And we can talk on the phone and email every day, and I can come see your show and you can come visit me here."

"Rachel…"

"It will be great, and when I go to Julliard we'll see each other all of the time."

"Rachel," he said a bit more firmly.

"Is there something wrong Jesse?" she said, somehow knowing exactly what was coming.

"Rachel," he said, a sad look on his face. "This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

Finn's Story

He packed the last of his bags, ready to hit the open road with Quinn and her parents, he had to admit that he wasn't looking forward to it. Their family therapist suggested they take a trip together, Quinn's Mom and Dad and even her dad's new girlfriend as a way of reclaiming a bit of normalcy in their family dynamic, whatever that meant. Finn didn't see anything normal about any of it, and he knew that him being there would just make things even more awkward, considering his rocky history with Quinn, but somehow she talked him into it anyway. Quinn could sell shoes to snakes if she wanted, but it wasn't just her charm that coerced him into going. Finn knew how things were with her family and he knew that in a lot of ways they were the reason she was so screwed up. As much as he dreaded it, he wanted to be there for her. He would just have to suck it up for one weekend.

"Hey you," she said from behind. He turned toward her and smiled.

"Hey yourself," he said, greeting his girlfriend with a kiss. "I'm all set to go I guess."

"Don't sound so excited," she teased.

"I'm sorry, it's just… this whole thing's kind of weird.

"I know, it's insane," Quinn said. "And you're such a sweet guy to do this."

"It's nothing," he said humbly.

"No, it really is something," Quinn said. "You really are something." Suddenly her expression darkened, and she almost looked close to tears.

"Are you okay Quinn?" he said worriedly.

"Um, no, actually I'm not," she said as if the words she had to say were nearly choking her. "Finn, I think you need to sit down."

Their story

Rachel nursed her cherry coke as she waited for him. She didn't know what had come over her. She literally could have called anyone, Kurt, Mercedes, even Puck would have been a smarter choice. She told herself that it was because his name came before there's on her contact list, but who was she fooling?

"Hey," Finn said, entering the nearly empty waffle house and sitting across from her.

"Hey," she said quietly. "I bought you a root beer float," She continued, sliding it over to him.

"So, what happened?" Finn said.

"You were right, that's what happened," she answered bitterly.

"I didn't want to be right," He said, shrugging one shoulder. "I wanted you to be happy, you deserve it Rachel."

She smiled weakly. "He said he would always love me, but he had to think about his career first."

"Ass," he said under his breath.

"Tell me about it," she said. "It completely took me by surprise."

Finn raised his eyebrows at her, as if to say "really?"

"I just heard it," Rachel said bashfully.

"Hey, it's okay. It's not like you're the first person to be burned twice."

"What do you mean?" she said, knitting her brow.

"The night of Prom, Santana's Party, you know the one I didn't go to because of the fight with Jesse?"

"Go on," Rachel said.

"Quinn slept with Puck."

"Again? Oh my god I'm so sorry. And what about poor Lauren?"

"Well, let's just say Mike had to help him walk home at the end of the night. After she beat him to a pulp and stole his car."

"Pretty harsh," Rachel said, sipping her coke.

"I can't believe she would do this to me," Finn said causing Rachel to give him the same look he had just given her a second ago. "Yeah, I just heard it."

"What's wrong with us? Why do we keep falling for the same tricks every time?" Rachel said.

"Because," Finn said, "Because we both just want to be loved."

"Well, I love you," she said hesistantly, reaching for his hand. "I mean, we're friends right?"

"Of course," Finn said. "And I love you too… you know, as a friend."

"Right," Rachel said, pulling her hand away and starting to nervously fuss with her straw.

"So, what should we do now?"

"I don't know," She said, shrugging. "I feel like such an idiot."

"You're not, he is."

"Maybe, even still I wish I could just disappear. Just be free all of this heartache and drama. I feel like I'm being crushed under the weight of my own emotions and there's no escape."

"Yeah, I feel pretty crappy too."

"Wouldn't that be nice though. To just fall off of the face of the earth for awhile."

Finn knitted his brow in contemplation as if he were seriously considering what she had just said. She couldn't quite make out what he'd said next. But it almost sounded like "why don't we?"

"What did you say?"

Finn's expression was suddenly vibrant, manic even for someone who was supposed to be in a major funk. It would have freaked her out a little if she weren't so weirdly intrigued. "Rachel," Finn finally said after a seemingly endless silence. "If I asked you to run away with me tonight, what would you say?"

**Based on spoilers I know that Jesse is only going to be returning for one episode or so, and Quinn and Finn will probably be broken up before the summer when this story takes place. But I thought I'd take some liberties for the sake of the plot. Just play along **


	2. Plans

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Rachel said, still flummoxed.

"I'm serious, we should do it. I have some money saved up for the trip and, you know, you're Jewish and everything."

"That's racist Finn."

"So you're telling me you don't have sixteen years worth of birthday check money hidden in a shoebox in your room somewhere?"

"No," Rachel said unconvincingly. "It's a locked safe."

"It's pink isn't it?" Finn deduced further.

"Magenta," she said under her breath. "But money isn't the only problem here. Were underage, we can't just come and go as we please, we'll both be grounded for like ever."

"So we'll think of an Alibi," Finn said. "We can tell our parents we're staying with friends."

"That might work for you, but my dads know both of my friends."

Finn scratched his head in thought, clearly having been thrown for a loop, "What about Santana? She has no morals, I'm sure she'd be willing to lie for you for the right price."

"Finn, where is all of this coming from?" she said. "Do you have any idea how crazy you sound?"

"Come on Rachel, if anyone needs to get away for a while it's us. All we ever do here is get screwed over by people we trust and get slushies tossed in our faces, we deserve it."

"Maybe… but—

"There's no maybe about it. I mean, as much as I dreaded the idea of Quinn's weird little family getaway at least I was _getting away,_ now what? Am I just supposed to sit on my butt all summer playing marathon Halo? Hell no. And what about you? You're young and full of energy, you can't be fenced in. I say we take back our summer Rachel Berry." He sounded more confident with each insane syllable that came out of his mouth, she was beginning to think he wasn't joking at all. And what freaked her out even more was the fact that it started to make a weird sort of sense.

"I've never seen this side of you before," Rachel said, blushing a little.

"Yeah, well neither have I, but I'm thinking it's been here all along."

"Where would we even go?" She said.

"We can go anywhere, that's the beauty of it."

"No way Finn, if we're going to embark on this insane adventure then we need a plan." She said confidenty. "How about Cleveland?"

"Okay, that sounds like an idea, and how about before we go we pick up your dads so they can hold your hand the whole way there."

"No need to get mean Mr. Spontaneous all of a sudden." She mulled it over a bit more. "How about… Tennessee? There's Graceland, Dollywood…"

"Better, but I kind of promised Kurt I'd take him to Dollywood for his 21st birthday… I'm still not sure how that happened."

"Well, the selection of vegan restaurants in Tennessee is abysmal anyway."

"What about Toronto?" Finn suggested, "I always felt like I could be Canadian."

"Good idea, but neither of us have passports," Rachel said.

"That's right, damn. Okay we've already been to New York, Vegas is severely lacking in entertainment for the under 21, we can't leave the country… wait. How about…"

She knew at that moment that they had the exact same idea and they looked at each other with the excited expressions of two children headed for

"Disneyworld!" they said in unison.

"It's perfect" Rachel said. "Not too far, not too close, we can stop to see all of the sights and be back in less than a week."

"I've always wanted to go there. One time my mom took me to Knott's and she told me it was Disneyworld, I still haven't forgiven her."

"That is sort of a mean thing to do to a little boy, with no disrespect to your lovely mother of course."

"Well, actually I was fourteen, but it still hurt."

"So we're really going to do this, tonight?" Rachel said, looking apprehensive and excited all at once.

"Rachel Berry," He said giving her that smile that made her weak in the knees every time, there was no resisting at that point. "You've just been dumped by your scumbag boyfriend, what are you going to do next?"

She smiled almost goofily at him, unable to contain her excitement. "I'm going to Disney World!"

* * *

><p>"Why should I help you anyway?" Santana said icily, as Rachel sat across from her, having just told her the plan.<p>

"Well you destroyed my relationship with Finn, you make fun of me constantly and you pretty much make my life a living hell 24/7," she started. "Plus, you're the only one who cares little enough about me not to tell my parents."

"This is true," Santana said. "What can I expect in return?"

"I happen to have for you a forty percent off coupon at Bath and Body Works, I saw you eying that sweet pea bath gel the last time we were at the mall together."

Santana knitted her brow in contemplation. "Make it two and we have a deal."

Rachel beamed. "Consider it done." She said, firmly shaking Santana's hand.

Finn waited by his car for Rachel, as she bounced toward him he could tell that it went well.

"Guess who's going to be spending a week with Santana in a rented beach house in Dayton," Rachel beamed.

"They bought it?" Finn said excitedly.

"Every word," She said. "Santana might have a decent acting career ahead of her."

"This is awesome, we might actually pull this off. I just got off the phone with my parents, they think I'm going camping with Mike."

Suddenly Rachel's face fell as the gravity of what she's just done started to dawn on her.

"What's wrong Rach?" He said, concerned.

"I lied to my dads, I've never lied to my dads before."

"What about that drinking party?"

"That was omission, not lying, this is completely different. I actively lied to them about where I'm going this week." She sank against Finn's car, holding her forehead in her hand as if the betrayal was actually causing her physical pain. "Oh my god I am a terrible daughter."

Finn grabbed Rachel's shoulders, hoping to calm her down a little. "You can't do this to yourself, we have to stick with the plan remember?"

"But—

"Rach, you have your whole life to make it up to them, but now's your time."

"I know but—

"Look, Rachel" he said. "I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to do, but I saw how excited you were back there. This isn't something you don't want to do."

"You're right. I really, really want to go," she said.

"I feel bad about lying too, but it's not like we're in any danger, you're the most responsible person I know and I'm weirdly tall for my age, we'll be fine, I promise."

"You promise, you swear that nothing will go wrong?"

"We have each other, what can go wrong?"

Rachel exhaled slowly, trying to pull herself together a little. "Okay, I'm back on board. Come on Finn, it's time to go pack." She said, taking his arm.

**Finn and Rachel are making their escape, what's in store for them? And what will the other glee members do once they find out?**

**P.S. Finn's Disney world story comes from my own personal experience, only I was six, not fourteen, lol.**


	3. Out of Reach

Puck sat alone on his front stoop, trying Lauren's number for the fourth time in fifteen minutes. Still he received no answer, it was clear she was still pissed off. Returning his car with the word_ Manwhore_ keyed into the side of it must not have been enough to make them even. Still he tried and failed over and over again to reach her. In the first message he sent he tried pleading, then placing the blame on her, then apologizing for placing the blame on her, and now he had resorted to full-stop anger.

"So what, you think you're too good to talk to me? Like you've never made a mistake before? Well fine I don't want to talk to you anyway, at least not until you fork up the money for my car," he vented into the phone. "Please call me back baby I miss you so much." He continued quickly regressing to wounded puppy mode before hanging up.

"We need to talk," said the icy, pissed off looking blonde marching toward him.

"I thought you were leaving." Puck said stoically.

"I finagled my way out of it. I Told my dad I have cramps, that's gotten me out of everything from school to dentists appointments since I was four."

"So, what are you here to ruin my life even more?"

"Oh please, nobody put a gun to your head, it's not my fault you can't keep it in your pants."

"I guess I could say the same for you," He scoffed.

"Real nice Puck," she said, crossing her arms.

"I was drunk okay, and you took advantage of me," He said.

"I was drunk too remember?"

"Um no, actually I remember you being pretty sober.

Quinn looked down at the ground and shifted her feet, ashamed. He was right, she hadn't had anything to drink that night, the only thing she was drunk on was emotion.

"I thought me and Finn were over okay," she said, defeated. The way he got so mad at Jesse and just left me there, I didn't know that he would show up at my house the next day to apologize and try to work things out."

"Look, whatever reason this happened we have to fix it. Lauren's pissed at me, Finn's pissed at you—

"I'm trying, but he hasn't answered his phone and he hasn't been home all day, his mom said he was at the pro store shopping for bait for a camping trip with Mike. It doesn't make any sense, when has he ever hung out with Mike aside from glee or football?"

"That is pretty weird."

"I came here because I thought you might have seen him, I figured he would have come to kick your ass by now."

Puck shrugged. "No, I haven't heard from him all day."

"Really, he didn't even call to cuss you out or anything?"

"You sound disappointed."

"I'm not," Quinn lied. "It's just that, I thought he would be more… upset."

"Well, he's not answering your phone calls, you can take some comfort in that."

"Not returning someone's phone calls doesn't mean you're upset with them, it means you don't want to talk to them. I ignore my grandma's calls most of the time."

"Well, how did he seem when you told him?" Puck said. "What did he say?"

Quinn's face fell as she remembered her conversation with Finn from earlier. "He said… have fun on your trip. Then he just… left, without another word."

"Wow, that's way worse than angry. At least the fact that Lauren defaced my car means she still cares."

Quinn sank down onto the stoop, sitting next to Puck. "It really is over this time isn't it?"

Puck nudged her gently, "Hey, don't take it so hard. Finn's a really forgiving guy, he forgave you the first time, he forgave Rachel—

"Wait," Quinn said, a light turning on in her head, "Oh I can't believe this." She broke out her cellphone and began to frantically dial Rachel's number.

* * *

><p>After going to their respective houses, packing their things and getting everything square with their parents, Finn and Rachel had hit the road at 6 pm that night. He had been driving for 45 minutes, enjoying the sound of Rachel humming along to the road mix she had compiled on her I pod. The Sun was just going down and she really did look quite beautiful in the golden glow streaming through the car windows and reflecting off of her olive skin and shiny hair. The night was comfortably warm and she showed just enough skin in her cherry print sundress to make him temporarily forget that they were only friends. He tried to keep his mind off of the depressingly platonic nature of their relationship by singing along to the radio and keeping his eyes forward, wondering to himself a little too late if spending this much time alone with her was a good idea after all.<p>

_"I know, I know, I live the life of a senator but when it comes—"_

"Wait what?" Rachel said, interrupting Finn's sing along.

"What's wrong?"

"Did you just say you live the life of a senator?" Rachel asked, perplexed.

"What? Those are the lyrics right? _Let's go, let's go and live the life of a senator_," He said, singing the last part.

"He's saying _sinner_ Finn, not _senator_," she giggled. "Why would he want to live the life of a senator?"

He shrugged "Why not? I think it would be pretty cool, I mean, they get to make up laws and stuff and they probably have really big houses."

"I'm pretty sure it's sinner." She said, still giggling.

"Oh so you think that's funny, huh?" Finn said narrowing his eyes at her jokingly.

"Extremely," she said.

He smiled a dimpled smile at her, shook his head and rolled his eyes, instantly finding himself back in the state of enjoying her company without the burden of a bunch of confusing thoughts, at least for awhile.

"Wait I have to get that," Rachel said as her phone rang. She turned the music down and looked at the screen, surprised by who it was.

"That's not one of your dads is it?" Finn said.

"No… it's Quinn,"

Finn let out a low groan.

"Should I answer it?" Rachel said.

"It's up to you," Finn said, shrugging.

Rachel looked at her phone for a moment, silently debating what to do, before finally pressing the ignore button and turning the music back up to full blast.

"_Let's go let's go, and live the life of a senator,"_ Rachel sang teasingly, getting a smile out of Finn. _"And we'll be living on the run, right here in the California Sun."_

* * *

><p>"Okay," Quinn said, snapping her phone shut. "Since when does Rachel ignore a call from anyone? Something is officially going on with those two."<p>

**Quinn's onto something, what's going to happen when she puts two and two together?**

**The name of the song is Sinner by Big B. Featuring Scott Russo. If you listen, it really does kind of sound like he's saying _senator_. lol.**


	4. Scandal

**Just a heads up, there is a LOT of dialog in this chapter, even more than usual.**

Kurt thought he loved the summer before he started dating Blaine. He had no idea. Having him to himself without having to worry about ending the night early was pure bliss, and as much as he loved Finn, he couldn't help but get a mini-high from the fact that he was out of the house for the week. Burt and Carole were out for the evening and Finn was camping. He wasn't exactly sure why he decided to cancel his trip with Quinn at the last minute or why he and Mike were best friends all of a sudden, but the appeal of making out with his boyfriend in a perfectly empty house was more than enough to put his suspicions to rest.

"Oh my god," Blaine said as their lips parted. "I officially love your family, do you know what I had to do to get out of board game night at my house? Long story short I may have agreed to line dancing with my mom."

"Bummer, well whatever you do don't go for the flat round-toe cowboy boots for comfort's sake," Kurt said. "Those aren't shoes Blaine, they're lies."

"I won't let you down, I promise," Blaine giggled before kissing him again. They continued to make out in blissful silence for what felt like a good fifteen minutes before the unexpected and thoroughly crushing sound of the doorbell snapped them out of their amorous activity.

"Crap!" Kurt said, annoyed. "What could be this important this time of night."

"It's 8:30," Blaine said, looking at his watch.

"I'll be right back, Kurt said leaving Blaine on the couch with a quick peck on the lips.

Kurt answered the door, making no attempt to hide his irritation. "How did you get this address?" Kurt said surprised by who was at his front door.

"I'm dating your brother remember," Quinn said, as she and Puck entered the house unasked.

"Are you sure you want to go with the present tense on that one?" Puck said.

"Um, Quinn I kind of have company," Kurt said.

"Yeah, well I think you're going to want to hear this."

"What's going on here?" Blaine said, entering the foyer.

"Well Blaine, I'm here to figure out where my boyfriend is," Quinn said.

"Again with the present tense," Puck said.

"Could you not?" Quinn said snappishly.

"Wait, what do you mean by that Puck? Did you and Finn break up?"Kurt said

"Well, not officially but—

"But what?" Puck said, "You cheated on him, again."

"He didn't even give me a chance to explain," Quinn argued.

"You cheated on Finn, my god what is wrong with you?" Kurt said angrily. "How could you do that?"

"It's complicated," Quinn said.

"Are you really insecure or are you just pure evil?" Kurt continued.

"Look none of that is important right now, the important thing is that Finn is missing and we need to find him," Quinn said.

"Finn isn't missing, didn't you say he went camping with Mike?" Blaine said.

"Actually I have reason to believe that that was a last minute cover. I'm pretty sure the only reason Burt and Carole even went for it was because they knew that Finn was upset," Quinn said.

"Gee, I wonder why," Kurt said cattily. "But now that you mention it my parents did seem sort of secretive about the whole thing," Kurt said.

"Where do you think Finn really is?" Blaine said.

"That's easy. He's with Rachel," Quinn said.

"What makes you think that?" Kurt said

"Well, first of all neither of them are answering their phones," Quinn said.

Kurt scoffed, clearly running out of patience, "That could mean anything Quinn."

"There's more," Quinn continued. "I went to Rachel's house to see what was up and get this, her dads said that she was spending the week in Dayton… with Santana of all people."

"Okay so she's definitely with Finn," Kurt said, needing no further proof. "But so what? If you cheated on him then what he does should be of no consequence to you."

"Aren't you worried or even the least bit upset that he lied to you and your parents," Quinn said.

"Right now the only person I'm upset at is you. You cheated on my brother and now you're barging in on my date unasked," Kurt said.

"Fair enough, but I know you're a sucker for a good glee scandal," Puck said. "And we're giving you first dibs."

"Why do you even care about this?" Kurt said.

"Who do you think she cheated with?" Puck said.

"Oh my god," Kurt said, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. "Well I hope that you at least used protection this time."

"Are you kidding?" Quinn said. "I'm on so much birth control I'd be less surprised if I got Puck pregnant."

"Okay," Blaine said. "I know you have your reasons for being mad at Quinn, I mean, she's clearly the devil."

"Thanks," Quinn said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Blaine said dismissively. "But kurt, aren't you the least bit curious about what's going on with those two?"

Kurt stood there and mulled it over a bit. "Okay, maybe." He said, defeated.

"Alright, what do you want us to do?" Blaine said.

"I just need to call Finn with Kurt's phone, he'll answer the phone for you."

Kurt rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe that he was going along with it, but Puck was right. He _was_ a sucker for a good scandal.

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe we're doing this," Rachel said giddily as they continued down the road, they had decided to trade off every two hours and Rachel had just taken over. "I feel like such a badass."<p>

"I've never heard you swear before," Finn said smiling. "I have to admit it's kind of hot."

Rachel looked away, blushing as Finn faced forward too, scratching his ear nervously.

"Um, so," Rachel said, penetrating the awkward silence. "Where do you want to go first?"

"Well, the next state is Kentucky, what is there to do in Kentucky?" Finn said.

Rachel grinned widely "I thought you might ask that, look in my backpack."

Finn reached into Rachel's bag and pulled out the stack of Frommer's guides "You bought one for every state we're driving through? Is that why you took so long at the truckstop?" Finn asked.

"I figured we could choose one place to visit for every state. I'm sorry, I didn't have time to properly highlight our options. Luckily I brought my lightwedge."

"That's okay," Finn said, thinking inwardly about how adorable she was with all of her planning and her little booklight. He sat in silence flipping through the book. "Well Kentucky seems great if you really like coal."

"I don't feel any particular way about coal," Rachel said, shrugging.

"Hey, how about this," Finn continued. "Mammoth cave national park, home of the world's longest known cave system."

"I don't know, how interesting can caves really be?" Rachel said skeptically.

"Are you kidding?" Finn said excitedly "People used to live in those things. There are probably cool drawings and we may even see a skeleton."

"Not really convincing me Finn."

"Okay, I guess we don't have to" Finn said, scratching his chin in contemplation. "It's too bad though… imagine the acoustics."

"Sold!" Rachel said, needing no further convincing.

Finn smiled at her almost lovingly, she really needed to stop being so cute if she expected them to get to Florida drama-free, he wondered to himself if he frustrated her as much. She did it without even trying and it drove him crazy. But the purpose of the trip wasn't to romance Rachel, they were so much better as friends, everything was so much easier that way, or at least that's what he had been telling himself lately. Now he wasn't so sure. Luckily for him his phone rang just in time to snap him out of his wandering thoughts.

"Who is it?" Rachel said, a slightly worried tone in her voice. They both knew that they wouldn't be able to keep up the charade long enough to last the whole trip, they had just hoped that they would be far enough away by the time their parents figured it out that they wouldn't be forced to come home early. So every time the phone rang their bodies stiffened a little.

"It's just Kurt," Finn said, pressing talk.

"Hey Kurt," Finn said.

"Finn," said a familiar but unexpected voice on the other line. "Can we talk?"

"There's nothing to say Quinn," He said, detached. Rachel's eyes darted toward Finn at the sound of her name.

"Finn, I am so sorry," She pleaded. "Can you please just come home so we can talk about this?"

"I'll be back in a week. But chances are not much is going to change by then."

"You're not really with Mike are you?" she said quietly.

"That's one of those things that stopped being your business."

"I know, I know it's just, we're all worried about you."

"Well I'm fine."

There was a long silence after that. "What about Rachel, is she okay?" Quinn finally said.

"How did you know?"

"So it's true. You're with Rachel," she said as a statement rather than a question.

"Quinn look, I want you to stop calling me," He said firmly. "I'll deal with this when I'm ready. And maybe in the meantime you can figure out whatever messed up feelings you clearly still have for Puck, because if you don't I seriously feel for the poor bastard who gets you next. Goodbye Quinn," and with that he hung up without another word.

**Next stop: Mammoth Cave National Park.**


	5. Caving

Finn squinted as the early morning sun streamed through the car window. They had pulled over the night before to get some well-needed sleep before starting their day at the caverns. He glanced at his watch, it was a little after seven and already plenty warm. He knew it couldn't have just been the weather. He looked down, wondering where the extra heat on his body was coming from. All he saw was a thick mass of brown hair under his chin. In his groggy confusion it took him a second to remember why there was a petite brunette sleeping against him and why he had his arm securely wrapped around her.

"Rachel," he said, gently shaking her.

"Hmm?" she said groggily, looking up at him. "Oh, good morning Finn," she said smiling before promptly closing her eyes again. "Oh my god," she said, finally realizing where she was and scrambling away from him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to… cuddle."

"It's okay," Finn said sleepily, trying not to make the fact that he woke up spooning his ex-girlfriend in the back of a station wagon even weirder than it already was. "So, how about breakfast?"

* * *

><p>"So what do we know about Finn and Rachel?" Mercedes said, pouring syrup onto her short stack.<p>

"Well apparently early last night they left together for some mysterious reason, following the fall-out of Finn and Quinn's relationship," Kurt said. "But what we don't know is why."

"Isn't it obvious? They're so hooking up." Puck chimed in.

"Okay, let's not jump to conclusions," Quinn said.

"It's over Quinn, deal with it," Kurt said causing Quinn to wilt in her seat.

"Well, once Santana gets here I'm sure she'll be able to clear some things up, there must have been a reason she was willing to lie for Rachel," Blaine said.

"Okay, what did you losers call me here for?" Santana said, taking her seat.

"We want answers and we want them now," Kurt said. "Why did you lie about where Rachel was going this week?"

"Okay, do you guys like not have enough cable channels or something?" Santana said.

"We just want to know what you know," Quinn said.

"All I know is that Rachel came by my house at around noon yesterday, she offered me body wash in exchange for me lying to her parents for her."

"Did she tell you where she was going?" Kurt said.

"She said it was on a need to know basis," Santana said. "I didn't pry because, well honestly, I didn't really care all that much."

"What about Mike? Finn said he was going to be with him this week but nobody's been able to reach him." Mercedes said.

"Well duh, he went camping," Santana said.

"Wow, did Finn actually tell a plausible lie? I'm so proud of him," Kurt said.

"Okay somebody needs to call Rachel," Quinn said. "She's way more likely to spill than Finn but it has to be someone she trusts."

"Why are you looking at me?" Mercedes said. "I'm just here for the gossip and pancakes."

"Come on Mercedes you have the least to gain from knowing where they are, you have to try," Quinn said.

Mercedes rolled her eyes and whipped out her phone. "You people owe me."

* * *

><p>Finn began to grow impatient, he knew that girls took a long time in the bathroom but Rachel took it to sadistic levels. His coffee was getting cold and the waitress had come by four times to ask if he was ready to order. He had half a mind to go after her, make sure she wasn't lying in the fetal position in crippling fear at the prospect of showering in a truck stop. Finn had managed to shower, change clothes and brush his teeth in a matter of 15 minutes, the fact that she was knocking on an hour was pure insanity from where he was sitting. But as she pranced into the diner, freshly scrubbed and looking perfectly lovely he had completely forgotten why he was annoyed in the first place. Somehow she managed to look adorably prim and girly even in her outdoor clothes, crisp khaki shorts, a long sleeved black and white striped t-shirt and a matching white kerchief around her neck. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, showing off her pretty face and beaming smile that always reached her lips when she looked at him.<p>

"Hi Finn, sorry it took so long," She said bashfully as she sat down.

"That's okay," he said, sipping his lukewarm coffee. "You look nice."

"Thanks, but I wasn't just primping." She reached into her bag. "Mercedes called me while I was in the bathroom."

"What did she want?" Finn said.

"What they all want, to know what we're up to."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that I couldn't say where we were going but that we were both fine and that we'd be back soon. I also begged her not to tell our parents."

"And what did she say?"

"She said if I couldn't give her more information than she couldn't be held responsible for what she said."

"Crap," Finn said. "We're dead."

"Would you relax, she's bluffing."

"How do you know?"

"Because I asked her if she was bluffing and she told me she was, and to have a good time."

Finn let out a sigh of relief. "You know they aren't going to stop this right?" Finn said.

"I know, but it was the risk we took. We just need to try to have a good time, we can explain everything when we get home."

"You know what, you're right. Let's eat I'm starving," he said, opening his menu.

"Oh, before I forget, I picked something up for us at the travel shop," Rachel said, lifting the large bag she carried in with her. "Another reason for the delay."

"I was actually going to ask you about that," he said.

"It's a tent," she said. "I noticed that parking brake shaped red mark on your leg. We can't expect to keep sleeping in the car the whole week."

"Wow, this is awesome," he said. "Just how much was in that magenta safe of yours?"

"Unfortunately only enough for one tent," she lied. If she had gone for the cheaper model she easily could have afforded two and continued to finance the rest of her trip, the truth was the idea of sharing a tent with Finn was just too tempting.

"Well thank you, I'm going to have to find a way to make it up to you."

"That's okay Finn, I'm happy to do it," she said, smiling.

Finn didn't like the way she was looking at him, or he didn't like how much he liked it, either way he looked down at his menu, pretending to read it while really thinking of how he would ever manage to hold himself together while sharing a tent with her.

* * *

><p>"HELLO!<em> HELLO Hello hello<em>"Rachel yelled at the top of her lungs, enjoying the way the cave walls echoed her voice. "Wow, it's my voice multiplied by four. I am so having my first concert here."

"This is pretty amazing," Finn said stretching his hand out toward her and helping her down from the rock where she stood. "Can you believe this thing goes on for 350 miles?"

"I know, imagine the size of the audience we can fit in here."

"You really don't think about anything else do you?"

Rachel blushed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said. "I really admire how much performing means to you. I kind of wish I had something that meant that much to me." He was lying, he did have something that meant that much to him, or more like someone, and she was standing right in front of him.

"So you haven't thought about what you want to do with the rest of your life?" she said, climbing onto another rock with him following suit.

"Well yeah, but…"

"But what?"

"I've just never been as certain about any of it as you are."

"Well, you're 17 Finn, it's not like you have to have everything figured out right now. I just got lucky is all." She said reassuringly.

"I guess."

"You know, I think now is the perfect time for an impromptu song about following your dreams. Say that you'll join me Finn," she said confidently.

"Hey, we need to practice for your concert right?"

"_Wake up kids, we've got the dreamers disease…_" She began to sing.

"_Age 14 we got you down on your knees,_" she continued with Finn joining in.

_So polite, you're busy still saying please_  
><em>Fri - enemies, who when you're down ain't your friend<em>  
><em>Every night we smash their Mercedes - Benz<em>  
><em>First we run and then we laugh till we cry<em>  
><em>But when the night is falling<em>  
><em>And you cannot find the light<em>  
><em>If you feel your dream is dying<em>  
><em>Hold tight<em>

_You've got the music in you_  
><em>Don't let go<em>  
><em>You've got the music in you<em>  
><em>One dance left<em>  
><em>This world is gonna pull through<em>  
><em>Don't give up<em>  
><em>You've got a reason to live<em>

_Can't forget you only get what you give_

_Four a. m. we ran a miracle mile_

_Were flat broke but hey we do it in style_  
><em>The bad rich<em>  
><em>God's flying in for your trial<em>

_This whole damn world can fall apart_  
><em>You'll be ok follow your heart<em>  
><em>You're in harms way<em>  
><em>I'm right behind<em>  
><em>Now say youre mine<em>

_Fly high_  
><em>What's real can't die<em>  
><em>You only get what you give<em>  
><em>Just dont be afraid to leave<em>

_You've got the music in you_  
><em>Don't let go<em>  
><em>You've got the music in you<em>  
><em>One dance left<em>  
><em>This world is gonna pull through<em>  
><em>Don't give up<em>  
><em>You've got a reason to live<em>

_Can't forget you only get what you give_

They hadn't even noticed that anybody had been listeneing until a hearty applause sounded from a large platform above.

"Encore! Encore!" Cried one of the campers, causing Rachel to bury her head in Finn's chest, feigning embarrassment.

"That was awesome," Finn said.

"I know it was amazing, you weren't lying about the acoustics," Rachel said looking him in the eye. She held his gaze for longer than he should have allowed and without knowing exactly what came over him, he kissed her right then and there.

**So much for just friends, but be warned, things aren't going to be all hearts and flowers on this trip. Song was Get What You Give by The New Radicals. Stay tuned everyone.**


	6. A tent is not a home

"I can't believe you gave in like that Mercedes, you were actually on to something," Kurt said as the two of them and Blaine left the waffle house together, having said goodbye to the others.

"Maybe we should just leave them alone. Finn and Rachel are two of the most boring people alive, I'm sure whatever we can imagine is way more interesting than what they're actually doing," Mercedes said.

"You have to try again," Kurt said, trying to force the phone on her.

"Look, they'll be back in a few days and we can give them the third degree then, but the truth is they're both hurting right now, they need time alone."

"But they're not alone Mercedes, they ran off together. It's like something out of a deliciously horrible beach novel and your telling me you don't want to make any more attempts to find out what's going on?" Kurt said.

"Kurt, please from one friend to the other, let this one go," She said, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"She's right babe," Blaine said, "Let's go home and watch one of your Gossip Girl DVDs."

"I'm, practically living in Gossip Girl and no one seems to care, except maybe Quinn, and don't even get me started on how messed up that is. I would vent about this in my blog but I have literally no information."

"Wait just a second," Blaine said. "I might have an idea."

* * *

><p>Rachel and Finn hadn't spoken much since the kiss, it was mostly awkward small talk that centered around their plans for Tennessee, anywhere but Dollywood they'd both agreed, and after some lukewarm debating they'd settled on The Grainger County tomato festival, If only because Finn loved festivals and Rachel loved tomatoes. There was also a campsite close by if they decided not to power through and make the trip to Atlanta the same night. As they drove into the night the awkwardness thickened with each passing moment, all but suffocating them both.<p>

"So, there were a lot more kids than I expected," Finn said breaking the nearly endless silence.

"Oh yeah," Rachel agreed, "At least twice as many. The one with the glasses was cute, he kind of reminded me of Artie."

"Yeah, like if he could walk," Finn said stupidly.

"Yes, or if he were five."

Finn nodded as he tried to think of more words, too desperate to keep the insipid conversation going to think about the word vomit that threatened to spew from his mouth. "Kind of makes you wonder what ours would look like," he said casually, regretting it immediately. "I mean, not our kids, I meant yours and mine… separately, like if we each had one…" he rambled, "…with other people."

"Yeah, I got it Finn," she said coolly, cutting him off before he could make an even bigger ass out of himself.

"But seriously, how cool was that reindeer we saw, it was like way bigger than—

"Finn why did you kiss me back there," Rachel said, finally getting it out in the open. Finn looked at her for a second before pulling the car over, unable to drive and think at the same time, not about that.

_Because I was in the moment, because you were giving me that look and I couldn't help myself, because I'm still hopelessly in love with you._ He thought to himself. "I don't know," he said instead.

"This is weird isn't it?" Rachel said.

"Oh my god it's so weird," Finn admitted.

"I mean when I agreed to this I didn't think that things were going to be this… confusing," Rachel said.

"I know, me neither. I thought we were just two friends going on a trip together."

"Me too, I mean when we dated it was a disaster, why would we want to go there again?"

"I know, it's so stupid," Finn said looking at Rachel.

"So, so… stupid," Rachel agreed, looking at Finn.

And they said nothing else after that, not because there was another awkward silence between them, but more because they couldn't get out too many words while their lips were pressed together and their hands were roaming over each other's bodies frantically.

Finally they came up for air after what felt like a lifetime of letting out their pent-up frustration on each other in the best way.

"Finn," Rachel panted, still holding him close as she spoke. "I think we should set up camp."

* * *

><p>"Isn't this like a serious invasion of privacy," Mercedes said as Kurt typed away on the computer.<p>

"Zip it Mercedes," Kurt said dismissively.

"And Blaine, I expect this kind of thing from Kurt, not you."

"Well, maybe I'm a little curious myself." Blaine said, shrugging.

"If he bought any sort of tickets or looked at any travel websites online than we should be able to find out where he's going," Kurt said, googling away. "Wait a second," Kurt said. "Mercedes, call Quinn. I think we have our first clue."

"What is it?" Mercedes said, reading over his shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to know Miss 'respect Finn's privacy.'"

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Just tell me what you found.

"It looks like our Finn googlemapped Orlando California. The computer autocompleted my search, look, Orlando Florida is in purple, meaning he was looking for it specifically."

"Oh my god, they're going to Florida? For what?" Blaine said.

"I don't know," Kurt said shrugging. "Mercedes, call Quinn."

"Why are we involving her in this anyway?" Mercedes said.

"I don't like it anymore than you do but she is kind of the one who gave us the tip-off," Kurt said.

"Okay, but you do realize we're all going to hell for this right?" Mercedes said, whipping out her phone.

"Worth it," Blaine and Kurt said simultaneously.

* * *

><p>"So, are you sure about this?" Finn said nervously as he gazed across the tent at Rachel.<p>

She simply nodded, obviously way more nervous than even him. "Why don't you take off your shirt?" she said, with a lot more confidence than she felt on the inside.

"Uh-um, yeah, okay," Finn stammered, before pulling his t-shirt up over his head. She blushed a little at the sight of shirtless Finn, but kept her composure long enough to remove her own shirt. She then reached for the back of her bra, but didn't remove it. "I'm sorry Finn I just need a moment."

"It's cool," Finn said. "Um, if you want I could turn around."

"Oh, okay," Rachel said. As Finn turned around she took a deep breath and unclasped her bra, letting it fall to the floor. She crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her exposed figure. "Okay, you can turn around now." He turned once again to face her and she lowered her arms so slowly he wasn't sure if she was even moving at all. Finally her arms were at her sides and she looked down timidly avoiding looking him in the eye.

"Whoa," Finn said, almost inaudibly.

"Is that… good?" Rachel said, finally making eye-contact with him.

"Yeah, really good," Finn said. "What about me though, I don't really have weird nipples do I?"

Rachel giggled. "No, you're nipples are lovely."

"You really are beautiful you know that?" Finn said.

She just smiled, playing with her hair nervously. "Do you think you can lie down?" She said quietly.

"Oh, sure," He said awkwardly lying down on the thick blanket.

"Here goes," Rachel said climbing on top of Finn and kissing him, softly at first but then with increasing force. As his tongue slipped into her mouth and he ran his large hands through her hair she hesitantly began to undo his belt buckle.

"Wow," Finn panted, "Your skin is really soft."

"Jergens," Rachel said closing the distance between them again, "Her hands trembled as she pulled down his pants, but somehow she managed to get them down around his knees in spite of herself, her heart was racing so hard and fast that she could feel it pulsating in her ears. She was a nervous wreck and she knew that he could tell, and she hoped that he didn't think she was some sort of inexperienced freak who was terrified of the hose monster. She had always been very outwardly confident in her sexuality, the way she was with every other aspect of her life, but on the inside she was a total mess. The truth was, the very idea of sex kind of freaked her out, and she just hoped she could hide it well enough to get through this. But as she lowered her hips back onto his and felt him harden under her, no amount of reassurance would make her keep it together.

"Oh god," Rachel said scrambling up and crossing her arms over her body again. "Okay that was… big,"

"Thanks," He said. "But are you okay?" .

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she lied. "But maybe you should get on top."

"Okay, sure," he said hesitantly moving toward her. he gently brushed her hair behind her ears before kissing her, hoping to relieve some of her tension. It was to no avail, she was so tense he was afraid she might snap. "You have to relax Rachel," he said, stroking her arms.

And that's when it happened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What happened, what's wrong?" Finn said frantically as she began to cry almost uncontrollably.

"I don't know, I'm sorry Finn, I don't know why I'm such a mess."

"Hey, it's okay. We don't have to do this." He grabbed a small blanket and draped it over her sholders, covering her body.

"Could you go?" she whispered, still crying.

"Do you want me to sleep in the car."

"No… yes, I don't know" She said confusedly.

"Rachel, just tell me what's wrong."

"I can't do this Finn, I'm not Santana or Quinn, I'm not one of those girls."

Finn's expression darkened. "Is that what this is about, are you serious?"

"Believe me I get it, I get why you'd choose her over me, it's a guy thing right?"

"Rachel that's crazy, I love you."

"Just stop saying that, the words don't mean anything anymore." She said "Just get out of my tent!"

"Rachel stop," He said. "I don't care about that stuff, I mean I do, but not enough to make you do anything that you don't want to do. If you're not ready, you're not ready. "

"Maybe this trip was a mistake," she said, still crying.

"No, it wasn't." Finn said, wiping a tear away from her face with his thumb. "Come here," he said, opening his arms up to her.

Unable to fight it anymore she collapsed into his arms and allowed him to hold her, "I'm sorry Finn."

"It's okay," he said stroking her back. He had to admit he was a little scared, but he stood his ground, not leaving her for anything.

"Maybe we should go to sleep," she said. "It's been a long day."

"Okay, do I have to sleep in the car?"

"No, stay," she said laying down and pulling his arm around her. "Stay with me."

**So Rachel freaked out a little (well, a lot) but I promise she'll get better. **

**Next stop: Grainger County Tennessee**


	7. The Nile

**I think I'm a fashion psychic, Rachel's prom dress was almost identical to the one I envisioned for her in Never Let You Go, the only thing missing was the halter neck strap. And on another note, Sam + Mercedes = Squee! I really hope RIB follows up on them, if I can do it without it feeling forced I might work them into this story somehow.**

Finn must've been more tired than he thought. He slept right through the night, holding the tiny brunette in his arms the whole time, which is why he was perplexed to wake up that morning to see the space next to him empty. He rubbed his eyes, stretched, pulled his T-shirt on and got out of the tent, hoping that she'd just stepped out for a moment.

"Good morning Finn, she said cheerfully as she approached him, causing Finn to feel a bit of relief, he knew that she had been upset but he hoped that she wasn't call her dads to pick her up upset, or even worse, take his car and leave him stranded upset. "I didn't want to wake you so I thought I'd go on a quick coffee and scone run, I know you like blueberry," she said, handing him a coffee and a crisp paper bag.

"Um, thanks" he said, taking them. As happy as he was to see that she hadn't left him, he had to admit that her bubbliness had him feeling a little wary. She was acting as if last night never happened.

"So, I figured if we want to make the festival before noon we should get a move on within the hour, I've already showered but—

"Rachel?" Finn interrupted.

"Something wrong Finn?" she said.

"No, it's just… I think we should talk about last night."

Rachel's face fell, he hadn't meant to embarrass her, but he knew that if he didn't bring it up than the trip would just get more and more awkward.

"What is there to talk about?" she said hesitantly.

"Well," Finn said carefully. "We were about to have sex and then things got kind of… weird. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

She gave him a weak smile. "I'm okay Finn. I was just…"

"You were just what?"

"Can I be perfectly honest with you?"

"Of course," he said.

She hesitated a bit before opening her mouth to speak. "The truth is, I don't really know where I stand with you sometimes. And I think that kind of scared me."

"Oh," he said, lacking anymore words.

"Look I think it would be better if we just hold off on taking this relationship any further. I mean, we've both been hurt, and I don't want us to be each other's rebound fling. You mean more to me than that, and I like to think I mean more to you too."

"You mean everything to me Rachel," he blurted. He knew he wasn't helping, but it was getting harder and harder to be around her without expressing to her everything she made him feel.

She looked at the ground, shifting her feet nervously. "Do you really mean that?" she said, looking him in the eye again.

"Rachel, I'm a guy, and a teenager at that which means most of the time I make really stupid decisions, but you were never one of them, I know that now. And whether were friends or whatever else, I just don't want to lose you."

She nodded, "Okay," she said, her voice breaking slightly. "I think I like that" she continued, smiling and taking his hand.

* * *

><p><em>How do I say goodbye to what we had?<em>_  
><em>

_The good times that made us laugh__  
><em>

_Outweigh the bad._

_I thought we'd get to see forever_

_But forever's gone away_

_It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.__  
><em>

Puck laid morosely in his bed, his hands folded behind his head as the sad song played. He had given up on trying to get Lauren on the phone, now he had resorted to plain old sulking.

"Honey," Puck's mom said, peeking her head inside. "Lauren's here to see you."

Puck perked up immediately. "Let her in," he said brightly getting up from his bed and smoothing out the front of his shirt.

"Well, well, well, Puckerman I almost didn't recognize you without your lips planted on my ass." Lauren said, entering his room.

"Lauren, I am so sorry, you have no idea."

"Oh I know, I mean, look at me," she said, confidently waving her hands over her robust figure. "If I got dumped by all of this I'd be listening to sad 90's R&B too."

"Lauren, I didn't mean to hurt you, I was wasted off my ass and Quinn, I just…"

"Love her?" Lauren said.

Puck Scoffed, "No way, I mean just because I had feelings for her and I never actually dealt with them in any way doesn't mean anything."

"Oh I think it does," Lauren said. "You two have a thing called baggage babe and I ain't trying to be your damn bellhop."

"So that's it, you're just gonna break up with me?" Puck said. "We had something special."

"Yeah, I know, which is why I know it would take someone even more special to you to fuck it up."

"It's not like that between me and Quinn, I promise."

Lauren just smirked at him. "Look, I know you, you're not as big of an asshole as you want people to think you are. Look deep down in that wayward little ticker of yours and figure out what it is about blondie that makes you so stupid. I guarantee you it's the "L" word."

Puck didn't speak, he just let out a low sigh, unable to deny it.

"I thought so, now if you'll excuse me, I gots me a date with a college guy," she said. With that Lauren lightly smacked Puck's cheek twice and turned on her heel to leave.

As he stood there alone he wondered how he managed to make such a mess of things. He didn't even consider that he might still have feelings for Quinn, he hadn't thought about her in months, but it was then that he realized that he hadn't allowed himself to think about her. Quinn didn't want anything to do with him. All she wanted was to reclaim everything that he had taken from her when he knocked her up, her good reputation, her status as the most looked-up to girl in school. He thought he was doing the right thing by just staying away. The last thing he expected was for it to come back and bite him in the ass, ruining his relationship with Lauren, who he actually had something of a connection with. He cursed under his breath and reached into his pocket for his cell, dialing the one number he thought he'd never dial again.

She picked up after four rings

"Hey Quinn, can you come over? We need to talk."

* * *

><p>So, they're back to ignoring us, Kurt said. Pressing end on his cellphone.<p>

"I can't believe this, Florida? Why do they need to go to Florida?" Quinn said pacing the room. "I don't even want to think about what they're doing right now.

"Probably banging," Kurt said insensitively, not making any effort to hide how pissed off he still was at Quinn.

"All I want to do is explain myself. I'm not saying he should take me back, I'm just saying if maybe he understood how much he hurt me that night then he'd realize that I'm not this evil person who gets some high off stomping all over his heart."

"Then why do you keep doing it?" Blaine asked.

"Look, If it's any consolation, I don't think you're evil," Mercedes said.

"Don't lie to the girl Mercedes," Kurt said, getting an icy stare from Quinn.

"Come on Kurt, it's not like she was deliberately trying to hurt Finn," Mercedes continued

"Thank you," Quinn said.

"I mean, it's not Quinn's fault that she never really got over Puck," Mercedes continued.

"Exactly," Quinn blurted. "Wait… what?"

"You still have feelings for Puck, it's so obvious," Mercedes said.

"You're insane," Quinn said.

"Come on Quinn, why else would you have rushed into these ill-advised relationships with Sam, then Finn unless you were trying to run away from something. He just happened to catch up to you," Mercedes said.

"I have to say it makes sense to me," Blaine said.

"No, it doesn't make any sense at all. I made a mistake okay, a onetime mistake,"

"Two time," Kurt said passively.

"Okay it doesn't matter how many times it happened. It was still a mistake. I feel absolutely nothing for Puck."

Just then Quinn's phone rang, hoping against her better judgment that it was Finn finally ready to talk. She fished it out of her purse and looked at the screen, her face falling.

"And who would that be?" Kurt said.

"It's Puck," Quinn sighed before answering.

* * *

><p>"I love you Tennessee!" Rachel shouted as she rode atop the electric bull, Finn was surprised by how long she was able to stay on, he'd barely lasted five seconds. He supposed that her slight figure and abnormally strong hands had something to do with it. The awkwardness of the night before had all but fallen away. In spite of everything they had actually managed to have fun. He won her a giant stuffed animal at the dunk tank and she forcefed him a bowl of Heirloom tomato gazpacho, which he actually ended up loving so much that he got seconds. They had gotten their faces painted, Finn chose Spiderman, Rachel chose a sparkly butterfly. They ruined their clothes in the tomato stomping contest and had to go back to Finn's car to change. They ignored calls from their meddling friends all day. It was pretty much the perfect comeback. Finn only had one regret, he hadn't kissed her since the night before, and he badly wanted to.<p>

"Wow, that was awesome!" Finn said giving her a double high-five as she skipped away from the electric bull.

"I know, I rocked!" she said giddily.

"It's six O'clock though, we should probably hit the road," Finn said.

"Do you think we should call home first? My phone has been ringing up a storm all day," She said as they began to head for the exits.

"We'll call when we set up camp in Atlanta, they already know more than they should, they're just being greedy at this point."

"I really had no idea we were so popular," Rachel said, taking his hand with no hesitation. He squeezed her hand back gently, happy that she seemed so comfortable with him again.

"Today was fun," Finn said. "It's good to see you so happy."

Rachel stopped in her tracks, looking up at Finn with a wide-eyed expression.

"What's wrong?"

She didn't respond with words, she instead stood on her tiptoes and smashed her lips into his, kissing him so deeply and forcefully she just about left him breathless. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her in close as she grabbed onto his collar caressing his mouth with hers, thoroughly ruining their face paint and not giving the slightest bit of a damn. Finally her lips parted from his and he rested his forehead on hers, staring into her eyes with almost burning intensity.

"Finn," she said breathlessly. "I think I'm ready."

**Next Stop: Atlanta Georgia**

**Will Finn and Rachel do the deed? Will Puck and Quinn finally confront their feelings? Stay tuned to find out. And thank you for all of your fantastic reviews. I'm a giant feedback whore so you have no idea how happy your nice comments make me.**


	8. Trust

**I feel a little uneasy about this chapter, I kept the rating T but be warned, I considered changing it to M after writing it. It shouldn't be enormously smutty, but there will be some citrus. Also, sorry it's a little on the short side, I'll try to make the next one longer.**

How he'd managed to make the drive to Atlanta that same night was beyond him, the need to be with her was so intense that he actively had to stop himself from driving at dangerous speeds just to get to the campsite as fast as possible, but after what felt like eternity they finally found themselves there. He couldn't believe that it was finally happening, that Rachel Berry was underneath him, warm and naked and full of trust. Her body still trembled as he kissed her and glided his hands over her body, and placed his hand on the warm, damp space between her legs, but he knew that it was different that time. He knew that she trusted him to take care of her, if she was nervous then it was simply because it was something that she had never done before and she didn't know quite what to expect. But she trusted him, she loved him, and he loved her and it just felt right that time.

"Finn," she whispered softly as their lips parted. "Can you talk to me?"

"Sure," he said, kissing the crook of her neck, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, what was it like? I mean, the first time?" she asked.

He smiled at her, looking into her big, innocent eyes and feeling so much love for her he didn't think he could take it. "Rachel, _this_ is my first time."

She smiled and cradled his face in her hands, kissing him tenderly.

"Do you think it will hurt?" she asked.

"I don't know, I hear it hurts for girls the first time, but I promise I'll be careful," He said. "I would never do anything to hurt you, not this time."

She nodded, trusting in his words, "Okay, I'm ready," she said, hooking her arms around his and placing her small hands behind his shoulders.

She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut as he penetrated her as gently as he could manage. She cried out a little as he inched inside of her and kissed her softly.

"Are you alright?" he whispered between kisses.

"Mm hm," she said, nodding and holding him tighter. The stories were right, it did hurt, the sting of it brought tears to her eyes as he moved in and out of her slowly and carefully, but at the same time the feeling of his soft lips against her skin and the weight of his body and his arms wrapped securely around her made the pain more than worth it, in fact, before long it started to feel sort of good, very good actually. They both let out soft sighs, breathing in harmony as he continued to glide with her.

"I love you Rachel," he panted softly into her ear.

"I love you too," she whispered back.

Being inside of her was amazing, it was unexplainable. It was as if everything he felt for her emotionally made it so much better physically. He could feel her everywhere, and it was almost overwhelming. He should have been prepared for it, Rachel was so intense in every other way, but nothing could have prepared him for how she made him feel when they were together that way. Every touch, every whisper hit him like a wrecking ball, and as he began to come, twisting his hands into the blanket and burying his face in her hair he felt as if his heart was going to burst right then and there. She let out a telltale moan and tightened her grasp on him making him feel it even more, which he didn't think was possible at that point.

He exhaled sharply as he collapsed into her, not wanting to move for anything. "Oh god," Finn gasped, struggling to get the words out. With a good deal of effort he finally rolled off of her, but still held her close to him.

"How do you feel?" he said after a few moments, still breathing heavily "Did you…".

"Oh my god yes" Rachel sighed. Putting a smile on his face, he honestly wasn't expecting her to come the first time, but she was always one to feel things a little more than everyone else. And when he was with her she made him feel everything a little more too, and as unwelcome tears sprang to his eyes he knew that he wasn't quite ready for it. It was official, Finn Hudson was a goner.

"Finn… are you crying?" Rachel said as she heard him sniffle.

"No," he lied, wiping his eyes.

"Oh my god you _are_ crying," Rachel said, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," He said, still futilely trying to keep his emotions in check. "It's just… you're just really awesome."

She moved in closer to him, holding his trembling body in her arms, and he held her back, and together they drifted off to sleep in the small tent.

* * *

><p>Kurt wasn't able to find much more information about Finn and Rachel's whereabouts since the Orlando discovery. He knew where Finn was headed, but not why or what he hoped to gain from it all. He also didn't know why he felt the need to hide it from him. He wasn't angry at Finn for hiding the truth, he understood that he had his reasons, still the more he knew the more it tortured him. Blaine finally talked him into the Gossip Girl marathon, but for the first time ever Blaine was more into it than he was.<p>

"Orlando, what's in Orlando?" Kurt said absentmindedly.

"Will you be quiet, I think Dan and Serena are going to finally kiss," Blaine said.

"I've seen this one 1,000 times. They kiss," Kurt said.

Blaine threw a handful of popcorn at him for ruining it.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Kurt said. "I'm back."

"You better be, and don't worry, they'll call back. They can't ignore us forever," Blaine said.

"I swear, when Finn and Rachel get back from Florida they're going to talk if I have to break out the electrodes," Kurt said.

"When _who_ get's back from Orlando?" Kurt's blood ran cold at the sound of his voice, he wasn't expecting him back for another half hour, but there he was, standing at the door at the worst possible moment.

"I'm waiting, who's in Orlando?" Burt said, his arms crossed.

"Hi dad," Kurt said nervously. "You're home early."

**Ooh, Finn and Rachel are busted, but at least they got some loving beforehand;)**


	9. In the Know

Rachel couldn't remember the last time she slept so well, and when she opened her eyes to the early morning sun she had the biggest smile on her face. When she agreed to run away with Finn she thought it was the perfect way to get over Jesse, but surprisingly she barely thought about him at all. All she could think about was how completely in love she still was with Finn and how much last night had cemented that. She smiled and reached out for him, wanting to move in closer to enjoy some last minute cuddle time. But the space next to her was empty.

"Finn," she said, still a bit groggy. He hadn't left her had he? She wrapped herself in the blanket and poked her head out of the tent looking back and forth until she finally spotted him sitting on a rock a slight distance away, watching the sun rising.

"Hey," she said approaching him, the blanket still wrapped around her naked body.

"Hi," he said quietly. She didn't think Finn had the capacity to wake up before her, he must have had a lot on his mind, he certainly looked like he did. "I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh, that's okay," she said. "Are you alright Finn?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," his voice a little more hoarse than she was used to. She sat down next to him, wrapping part of the blanket around his shoulders and hugging him close.

He half-smiled at her before pressing his lips to her temple, lingering there a moment. "Last night was… I mean it was, really…" he couldn't finish his thought, and she had a feeling she knew why.

"It was amazing," she said, squeezing his hand. "I've never felt closer to you."

"Yeah, me neither," he said quietly. "You know last night, I didn't mean to, you know I don't usually… I mean the one other time I didn't…"

"Finn, it's okay," she said reassuringly.

"It's just. I know guys aren't supposed to do that," he said bashfully.

Rachel touched his cheek softly, and he closed his eyes and leaned into her hand. "Is that why you're out here?"

"You don't think any less of me do you? I mean, I don't think I've ever cried in front of a girl before, except my mom."

"Of course not," she said. "I love you," she continued, kissing him softly and hugging him around the neck.

"I love you so much too," he said breathlessly as his lips parted from hers. "Alright, we should probably go."

"Okay, I'll go get dressed," she said, kissing him one more time and retreating back to the tent.

* * *

><p>Quinn rocked solemnly on her porch swing, deep in thought. She knew that it was over between her and Finn, perhaps she had always knew, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. It was over long before she slept with Puck again, she knew that the only reason he tried to make it work with her was because Rachel had chosen Jesse, and the only reason that Rachel had chosen Jesse was because she was so afraid of Finn hurting her again, and maybe a little to get a rise out of him. She knew she should have just broken up with Finn after prom, it would have saved her a world of trouble, as it was she spent her time dodging Puck's phone calls while Finn dodged hers, it wasn't an enviable situation to be in. Luckily she hadn't gotten a phone call from Puck in over an hour, maybe he had finally gotten the hint.<p>

"Quinn, we need to talk," Puck said, marching up to her. No such luck. "Why didn't you meet me at Breadstix, I waited for you."

"There's nothing to say Puck," She said as Puck took a seat next to her. "I ruined your life, I ruined Finn's, and for what?"

"Because you love me," Puck said.

Quinn simply scoffed and rolled her eyes, "That's hilarious Puck."

"Look, I know why you like to pretend that you don't. I doubt I'm the kind of guy you thought you'd end up with, but I know you love me Quinn."

Quinn gave him an icy stare hoping that he'd get the hint and get off of her porch swing.

"Think about it," he continued, you could have slept with anyone that night if you were just trying to get back at Finn, but you chose me, why? It couldn't have just been because I was drunk and you knew I would be an easy lay."

Quinn averted her eyes and shook her head, still saying nothing.

"Please, if you think that there's even the slightest chance that you love me than don't let go of that, seriously what do you have to lose at this point."

"Everything okay!" Quinn finally snapped. "This isn't the way my life was supposed to go. I was supposed to win prom queen and be a Cheerio and end up with Finn, that was the plan."

"Is that enough of a reason to be with someone?" Puck said rationally. "Because it's a part of some stupid plan?"

"Just leave me alone Puck," she said quietly.

"Okay, I'll leave, but there's something I want you to do first."

"Yeah, what's that?"

Puck took her chin in his hand and turned her face toward him. "I want you to kiss me."

"You're crazy," she said, pulling his hand away.

"Come on, if you don't have feelings for me then it shouldn't be a problem. Besides, Lauren broke up with me because of you, you owe me."

Quinn let out a low sigh. "Will that shut you up?"

"Absolutely," he said.

"Okay, fine." She said. She grabbed the collar on his shirt and pulled him into her, kissing him almost angrily, grinding her lips into his as if she were trying to cause him physical pain. But as he began to gently rub her back with one hand and tenderly comb her hair behind her ear with the other something happened, she softened, putting her hands on his shoulders and gently caressing his mouth with hers. She then pulled her lips away from his and breathed deeply, looking into his eyes.

"Puck, I think you should leave," She whispered, still firmly in his embrace.

"Why?"

"Because," she said. "I don't trust myself with you."

"I didn't think so," he said, kissing her again not at all surprised that she didn't protest.

* * *

><p>Burt paced the floor, the phone held firmly to his ear. It was the morning after he found out where Finn really was, and he was no less angry than he had been then. If anything he was even more angry, since Finn hadn't answered a single one of his phone calls.<p>

"That kid is a real piece of work," Burt said pressing end on his phone, not bothering to leave a twelfth message.

"Now I'm sure there's some sort of explanation. Finn's a good boy," Carole said calmly.

"How are you not fuming right now Carole?" Burt said. "He flat out lied to our faces."

"And I plan to punish him thoroughly for that, but I know you don't really think that his only intention was to trick us do you?"

"It doesn't matter what his intention was, he lied plain and simple."

"Look dad—

"And don't you think you're off the hook either," Burt interrupted angrily. "You lied to me too."

"I didn't lie, I knew about as much as you did," Kurt said.

"You knew that Finn wasn't being honest, and I understand you trying to protect him, I do, but that doesn't change the fact that Finn could be in trouble and you would have done nothing to prevent it."

"I'm sorry"

"You're grounded," Burt said. Kurt wilted in his seat, not arguing any further.

* * *

><p>"Hey," Finn said, as Rachel returned to the campsite. "I packed up the tent and bought you some coffee, they didn't have any vegan muffins so I got you a fruit cup and one of those little bags of cashews. I figured it would hold you over until we get to The Fox Theatre"<p>

"Thank you," Rachel said grabbing her breakfast and kissing him sweetly on the cheek. They piled into Finn's car ready to hit the road when Finn noticed something.

"Oh crap I left my phone in here"

"Me too," Rachel said. "That's why last night was so quiet."

"Umm, Rach, we have a problem," Finn said, looking wide-eyed at his screen.

"Yeah, I would certainly say so. I got fifteen missed calls from my dads."

"I got 13 from my mom and Burt, oh my god this is bad this is really, really bad," Finn said, starting to panic.

"What should we do?" Rachel said, even more frantically than Finn.

"I think I should call Burt and my mom and you should call your dads and we should explain ourselves."

"Okay, okay that's a good plan." Rachel said, her words conflicting with the panicked sound of her voice.

"And then we should call everyone else we know and say our goodbyes because our parents our going to kill us."

**What lies ahead for our favorite couple on the road? Will they still make it to the Magic Kingdom? Stay tuned for more.**


	10. Going Forth

**Another short one, sorry in advance**

**Ding dong the Fuinn is dead! The Fuinn is dead! The Fuinn is dead! Ding dong Finn and Quinn are dead!**

**Sorry, couldn't help it, and although it now puts this story off canon I don't mind one little bit.**

Finn's heart pounded harder with each ring, he was surprised that his mother hadn't picked up on the first one, but when she finally did he could tell that she had been waiting for his call.

"Finn, where the hell are you?" she answered angrily.

"Umm…" Finn started hesitantly. "I'm in Atlanta." He finally said.

"Why are you in Atlanta when you told me and your step-father that you were going camping?"

"Because I knew if I said I wanted to go away with Rachel than you'd say no."

"Of course I'd say no, I don't even want to think about what you and that girl have been doing."

"We haven't done anything wrong mom."

"You lied to us. That was wrong."

Finn was conflicted, he knew that he had to see this thing through to the end, but he had never heard his mom so angry before. Maybe it was time to go back.

"Mom, I promise we're okay, you can kill us when we get home but we've come so far we can't turn back now," he said.

"Let me talk to him," Burt said, his voice muffled from being away from the phone. "Hello, Finn. You listen to your mother, you come home now."

"Burt I'm sorry I lied, I am. It's just after what happened I needed to get away with her."

"You mean _from_ her, you needed to get away from Quinn," Burt corrected.

"That's what I said isn't it?" Finn said confusedly.

"Look Finn, I don't care why you left, all I care about is that you get your little butt back here right now," Burt said. "You lied to me and your mother so you could go on some wild sex romp with Rachel, do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

"That's not true, we didn't even have sex until like the third day."

"Finn, why are you going to Florida? Is it drugs?"

"Burt you know me better than that."

"Do I?" Burt said angrily.

Finn sighed, knowing that he'd just get more upset if he continued to lie to him. "We're going to Disneyworld."

"Disneyworld?" Burt asked as if he heard it wrong.

"It's the happiest place on earth," Finn said rather lamely.

"That's it Finn, you better come home right now, do you understand me?" With that Burt hung up the phone, leaving Finn with his thoughts.

"What did your dads say?" Finn said as Rachel walked up to him.

"Dad wouldn't stop crying, and Daddy started singing Magic Man into the phone, we're in trouble Finn. Big trouble."

"I know," Finn said. "Look if you want me to take you home…"

"No, we can't go home now, we're so close," Rachel pleaded.

"Okay then, forget The Fox, it's a straight shot from here to Disney, I mean we might as well enjoy our last days on earth right?" Finn said.

"Right," Rachel said, "Come on Finn, I'm driving," she said, taking his hand and leading him back to the car.

* * *

><p>"They went to Disneyworld?" Kurt said, "Mercedes was right, I could have imagined something better."<p>

"It makes sense, he's always wanted to go," Carole said.

"I can't believe that kid would just lie like that," Burt said exasperatedly.

"Well at least we can take some comfort in the fact that we know where he's going," Carole said.

"Do you still think they'd have the gall to still go after this?" Burt said.

"Well, Disneyworld is kind of a hot button for Finn, he never really forgave me for the Knott's Berry Farm thing."

"Okay, I hate to interject here, but maybe you should just leave them be until they get home, I mean, they're just going to Disneyworld," Kurt said.

"Aren't you supposed to be in your room?" Burt snapped.

"Now honey, maybe Kurt's right," Carole said. "I'm furious at Finn too, but it's not like they're going to get married in Vegas, after what happened to Finn and that poor girl maybe they do need some time away."

"They're kids Carole!" Burt fumed.

"I know honey and I was a kid once too," Carole said rationally. "And so were you."

"Yeah dad, didn't you ever do anything crazy in your youth, like follow a band across the country or get loaded at Woodstock."

"First of all, I was two. Second, why are you still talking to me?"

"I'm going," Kurt said, throwing up his hands defensively and retreating to his room.

Burt took a few deep breaths before finally opening his mouth to speak. "I feel like Finn is one of my own, but I'm not going to pretend to know him better than you. Are you sure he's going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine, and as much as I hate to say it, I trust Rachel."

"She lied to her parents too, her dads were a wreck when I talked to them. I think the black guy was singing Heart."

"Look, I think we should let them have their fun and ground Finn until he's 30 when he comes home."

"Well, what do we do until then?"

Carole smiled and put her arms around her husband's neck "I think we should take advantage of the fact that there's one less kid in the house."

* * *

><p>"I know, Disneyworld, can you believe it?" Kurt said over the Phone with Mercedes.<p>

"God they're lame," Mercedes said. "So now that you've gotten your step-brother in major shit do you think you can rest easy now."

"Mercedes, my espionage days are over, at least until Quinn gets knocked up again," Kurt said. "I'm sorry that I'm not going to make that movie tonight, I'm grounded."

"That's Okay," Mercedes said.

"What do you mean that's okay, you've been bugging me to see this movie with you all summer."

"Yeah well, I didn't want to say anything but I kind of have a date."

"Oh my god, with who? Tell me, I need to know."

"I thought you were done with the glee club scandals," Mercedes said.

"So he's in glee club huh?" Kurt said. "Let's see, who's single in glee club? Is it Artie? Puck? Sam? Oh my god it's Sam isn't it? I saw you two making googly eyes at each other at prom."

"Bye Kurt," Mercedes said slyly.

"I hate you Mercedes Jones!" He said hoping she'd hear him before she hung up.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe it, were here. We've defied our parents and made our escape against all odds. It's like something out of Shakespeare or Austen or Meyer," She said giddily as they crossed the city lines into Orlando. "Oh my god I'm shaking, are you shaking Finn?"<p>

"I may never go back home," Finn said. "We so need to look at apartments while we're here."

"Okay you're getting a little carried away," Rachel said.

"Yeah, sorry," Finn said.

"So it's 4 o'clock, should we go today or start fresh in the morning?" Rachel said.

"I say we find someplace to camp and enjoy the whole day tomorrow, I don't know about you but I want to see everything" Finn said excitedly. "Then we can go home and walk the plank."

Rachel's smile fell. "Well, maybe looking at apartments isn't such a bad idea after all."

**Rachel and Finn have made it! What lies in store for them at the happiest place on earth?**


	11. The Happiest Place on Earth

**Final stretch, only one chapter after this:(**

Disneyworld or no Disneyworld, wherever Rachel was was the happiest place on earth. But he had to admit, the music in the air, smell of overpriced churros and overwhelmingly bright colors surrounding him wasn't hurting. After 17 years he had finally made it, and he wouldn't waste a moment.

"Oh my god Finn, look, it's Buzz Lightyear!" She squealed grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the photo-op area. If it was possible she was even more excited than he was. And he loved seeing her that way, looking completely adorable in the Minnie mouse ears that he had bought for her with Rachel embroidered onto them to match his Mickey ears. If she had her way she would get a picture with every character there, it had only been an hour and she already had Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, Alice, Dumbo, Mary Poppins, Rapunzel, Tiana, and now Buzz lightyear.

"Mr. Lightyear may my boyfriend and I please get our photo taken with you," she said sweetly. Finn couldn't help but smile, first of all she was too cute for words, and secondly she had referred to him as her boyfriend, they hadn't exactly made it official yet but now that she said it he didn't want to hear her refer to him as anything else, except maybe husband, but there was plenty of time for that. His face grew a little hot as he thought about it, the places she made his mind go to when they were together started to overwhelm him a bit, but not in a bad way, just in a different way.

"Thank you," she said, kissing the plastic surface of Buzz's cheek, before taking the camera back from the helpful tourists and grabbing Finn's hand again, leading him to the next destination. "Come on Finn, Let's go to Pirates!" God he loved her, he couldn't believe that he'd experienced even a second of being confused about that. And as the feeling rushed over him again he had to stop for a second.

"What's wrong Finn?" She said, turning back to face him.

"I love you," He blurted.

"I know," she said circling his waist with her arms.

"No, I mean I really, really love you." He said, not being able to stress it enough.

"I really, really love you too," She said brightly.

"I don't want to screw this up again Rachel, I mean being here, with you and seeing you so happy, I just want things to be this way all the time."

With that Rachel's expression fell. "Finn," she said. "What if things aren't always this way?"

"What do you mean?" He said.

"Well, we're here, of course we're going to feel like nothing can touch us, there is a reason they call it the happiest place on earth."

At that point he wanted to say that anywhere that she was was the happiest place on earth, the way he had planned should the opportunity to say it present itself. But he couldn't get the words out. "So what do you mean, that things are just going to go back to being constant drama when we go back?"

"Well, we never really dealt with anything Finn, we never talked to Quinn about any of this, we just left it all behind. But we're going to have to go back to the real world soon."

Finn's face fell, and he reached up to remove his mouse ears with one hand, suddenly feeling kind of stupid in them, and he found the closest bench and sank into it.

"Finn, don't be sad," Rachel said, sitting next to him and rubbing his back comfortingly. "Every couple is going to have problems, nobody is happy all the time."

"I know that, it's just. I really want to do it right this time, when we dated before I didn't think anything would ever mess us up, but then…"

"Finn, when we dated before you had secrets and the sting of betrayal still fresh in your heart, but now, I know about Santana, you've gotten your closure with Quinn, and we can just take it one step at a time," She said, taking his mouse ears from him and putting them back atop his head, causing him to involuntarily smile a little. "Sure there will be fights and drama but there will be good times too."

"You promise me that no matter how bad things get we'll try to make it work?" Finn said.

"Of course, you mean too much to me. I won't let us be stupid or irrational or immature ever again when it comes to this relationship."

"Well, I agree with the first two, but I think we can afford to be a little immature," Finn said with a sly smile.

"What are you talking about," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I'll race you to pirates!" he said before scrambling up and sprinting away.

"That's my boyfriend," Rachel said to herself before getting up and chasing after him. "No fair your legs are longer!" she yelled after him.

It was the perfect day, they had to ride pirates twice because they were too busy making out during the first run to really see anything. And he held her close on the haunted mansion, knowing that she was feigning being scared just to snuggle up to him and not caring one little bit. And they ate nothing but empty calorie park food. And she hung piggy-back style on him in order to see the parades and shows clearly. And they shared a horse on the merry-go-round and a barrel on the riverboat. And they screamed their lungs out on Space Mountain and Indiana Jones and the teacups and splash mountain. And they got pictures with at least ten more characters. And as the night began to wind down and Rachel began to fear that she'd never run into Mickey Mouse Finn valiantly tracked him down for her. After dark he sat on the grass with her leaning against his chest and they watched the fireworks and held each other and kissed and talked and loved. And as the announcements sounded alerting them that the park was closing in thirty they dragged themselves to the souvenir shops not believing how quickly time had gone by.

"Oh my god look how cute," Rachel said hugging a stuffed Quasimodo to her chest.

"You've said that about every one," Finn said.

"But I want them all, I can't help it, my capacity to love cute things is just too great."

"You know what?" Finn said grabbing one out of the bin, "I think you should go with Remy here."

"Well, he's certainly adorable, but why do you sound so sure?"

"Because, he kind of reminds me of you."

"I remind you of a rat?" Rachel said, crossing her arms.

"Well yeah, because he's just this little thing and when you first look at him you think he's cute and everything, but then you find out that he has all of this talent and passion inside of him…" Finn said, causing Rachel to smile a little. "And you just know that he's going to succeed no matter what, even if the odds are stacked against him because of his size and where he comes from and everything else that he was just too determined to let get to him."

Rachel took the stuffed rat from him and smiled, thinking that it was definitely the one. "Okay, I think I've made my decision," She said hugging the rat a little. "Thank you Finn," she said kissing him softly.

"I wish today didn't have to end," He said.

She grabbed his hand and looked up at him. "I know, but at least we'll always remember it."

"Yeah," Finn said. "Always."


	12. Return

Rachel stared forward, unblinking, her hand shaking a little as Finn held it, his fingers intertwined with hers.

"Rachel, you have to go in sometime," Finn said.

She looked at him, her eyes wide and afraid. "Do you think you can come with me?"

"Are you sure that won't make things worse?" Finn said.

"Probably," Rachel admitted. "If I never see you again after this, I want you to know how much these last few days meant to me," she said stroking his cheek with the back of her hand. He leaned in to kiss her, just once, lingering on her lips as if it really was the last time he would ever see her.

"Be brave Rachel," he said, squeezing her hand one last time before she headed toward her front door, carrying her rolling duffel behind her. Reluctantly he got back into his car and put it in drive, prepared to face what was likely to be world war 3.

* * *

><p>The first thing his mother did when he entered the house was throw her arms around him, the second thing she did was slap him across the face.<p>

"I deserved that," he said, rubbing his sore cheek.

"You're damn right you deserved that," Burt said.

"I hope you and Rachel had a lot of fun because that's the last fun you're going to have for a very long time Finnegan Christopher Hudson!" She said, she used his full name, he was definitely in trouble.

"No leaving the house for the rest of the summer, no TV, no X-Box, no cell phone, nothing but reading and chores," Burt said as Finn simply nodded, accepting the punishment with dignity.

"And as for that girl—

"Mom I understand that you're upset but you can't keep me from seeing Rachel," he said finally.

"We're your parents we can do whatever the hell we want," Burt said. "And another thing, do you really think that constantly rebounding with the same two girls is the smartest move?"

"Rachel wasn't a rebound, Quinn was the rebound," Finn said.

"Look we know how much you care about her, but I think this punishment will be good for you, you need to take some time to distance yourself from Rachel until you can take some time to get over Quinn cheating on you… again."

"Can I say something?" Finn said.

"It better be good," Burt said.

"When I was with Quinn, all I ever thought about was being with Rachel, when I was with Santana all I ever thought about was being with Rachel" he said. "And when I was with Rachel… all I ever thought about was being with Rachel," he continued. "I know that my timing sucks okay, I'm not denying that, but it doesn't change the way I feel about her, and the way I'll still feel about her in 100 years when I'm not grounded anymore."

Burt and Carole looked at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to Finn.

"That's good Finn, that's a good thing," Carole said. "Now go to your room."

Finn kissed his mom on the cheek and gave Burt and awkward guy hug before retreating to his room, thinking he got off easier than he thought.

* * *

><p>"Tell me everything," Kurt said, charging into Finn's room right behind him.<p>

"Nice to see you too Kurt," Finn said.

Kurt gave Finn a quick, half-assed hug, "Welcome home, glad you made it safe, blah, blah, blah. Tell me everything."

"There's nothing to tell, we made a few stops we went to Disneyworld, we had fun and then we came home."

"So you're telling me you didn't… you know," he said slyly.

"That's so none of your business dude," Finn said.

"Oh my god, you did didn't you?" Kurt said. "Aww, my little Finn is growing up. So what was it like?"

"It was kind of weird," Finn said. "I mean I knew it was going to be emotional and everything but I wasn't expecting all of the crying."

"Oh my god, she cried?" Kurt said dramatically, with his hand on his chest.

"Um… yeah," Finn lied, shifting his eyes downward a little.

"Look Finn, I'm so sorry I got you into trouble, I didn't mean to."

"It's cool Kurt," Finn said tiredly laying back on his bed. "They probably would have found out anyway."

"Is there anyway I can make it up to you?" Kurt said.

"Yeah, in a week when you can leave the house, go check on Rachel. Make sure she's okay."

"Consider it done," Kurt said standing up to return to his room.

"I'll see you soon Rach,"he said dreamily before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Two months later<strong>

"Finn!" Rachel shrieked, jumping into Finn's arms, he hadn't seen her or spoken to her since they got home from Florida, and he missed her kisses like a guy in prison.

"Hey," He said his lips parting from hers, "How was the rest of your Summer?"

"Lousy," she said, still firmly in his embrace. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," he said meeting her lips with his once again before finally setting her down.

"So," Rachel said, grasping his hand firmly. "I have so many great ideas for glee club this year, like we should do a tribute to Bowie because if it weren't for Bowie we wouldn't have Bjork or Adam Lambert or even Lady Gaga. Also Tina has been sending me a lot of J-pop lately which was kind of unexpected since she's not Japanese but it really got me thinking, why has glee never done foreign music? Like Edith Piaf, or Kyu Sakamoto or Selena?

"Wasn't Selena from Texas?" Finn said.

"Missing the point Finn, I'm talking about limitless ways for the club to experience _my_ voice," She said pointing to herself, and coaxing a look from Finn, "And everyone else's of course," She continued sheepishly, making him smile sweetly at her. "Now I sent all of my suggestions to Mr. Schue's email, he hasn't answered any of my twelve emails but I'd be happy to go over it all in person."

"Did I tell you how much I missed you?" Finn said. And she shoved him playfully and put her hand in his as they made the walk to the front doors. But as they saw her they both stopped cold, blonde hair, green eyes and a look of guilt that must have been there since the beginning of the summer.

"Hey Quinn," Finn said, a little friendlier than Quinn expected. "How was your summer?"

"Good, um, it was good," Quinn said nervously. "How about you?"

"The beginning of it was pretty awesome," he said. "So, are you going to be in glee this year?"

"Yeah, definitely I mean, you guys have kind of become family," she said.

"That's good, we can really use your voice if we want to win nationals this year," Finn said.

"I know, it's our last chance," Quinn said.

"Yeah, so we can't screw it up this time." Finn said before turning to leave.

"Finn," Quinn called after him.

He turned to face her.

"Are we okay?" Quinn said.

He gave her a small smile. "See you at practice," he said before continuing down the hallway hand in hand with Rachel.

"Hey," Puck said coming up to Quinn and giving her a quick kiss on the temple. "What was that all about?"

"Oh that? Nothing," Quinn said. "Come on, I'll walk you to class."

**The End.**

**I really hope you guys liked my story, I had a lot of fun writing it, and make sure to check out Method, the other Finn/Rachel fic I'm currently writing. Thanks for reading and for all of the kind reviews. You guys are the best!**


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